September 29, 2001
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Phil Petty stood staring at the scoreboard as if he couldn’t believe it — South Carolina 37, Alabama 36.
“They got a great program, they got as great a tradition as anybody in the country,” said Petty, who threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rod Trafford with 2:18 left as the Gamecocks (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP) beat Alabama for the first time ever.
“You’re sitting there, you’re looking at the scoreboard and you’re like, ‘Ahhhh!'” Petty and the Gamecocks’ excitement is understandable. They trailed Alabama 36-24 with 9:01 left in the fourth quarter, had not been able to stop Crimson Tide quarterback Tyler Watts, or move the ball for any length of time. Then things changed. Petty completed his last seven passes, bringing the Gamecocks back for a victory that fans at South Carolina (4-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) will talk about for a long time.
Petty threw a 27-yard pass to Derek Watson at Alabama’s 2. Watson followed with a touchdown run that brought South Carolina to 36-30. After the Crimson Tide (2-2, 2-1) punted, Petty got things going again. He rushed twice for 12 yards, then hit Andrea Gause for a 37-yard pass to Alabama’s 7. Petty rolled right on the winning play and Trafford broke free from safety Charles Jones for his first catch of the season.
The crowd of 84,100, second largest ever at Williams-Brice Stadium, counted down the final seconds and, as they did a year ago after victories against New Mexico State and Georgia that stopped long losing streaks, toppled the goal posts.
“Do you realize how many of those pieces I’m going to have to sign?” South Carolina coach Lou Holtz said.
Trafford said he’s practiced the winning play so many times with the ball always going to a back like Watson in the flat. That was the plan this time, too. But Petty said Watson was covered and Trafford got himself open.
“I saw it coming my way,” said Trafford, a senior who had only five career catches before this one. “I was going to catch it. I knew I was going to catch it.”
Watts, who ran so free most of the game, was bottled up on Alabama’s final possession. His pass to Freddie Milons on fourth-and-9 was short.
Petty was 19-of-33 for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
The fourth-quarter comeback ruined the day for Watts, who had thrown for 231 yards and rushed for 162 yards. He was 20-of-25.
Watts threw a 31-yard touchdown to Jason McAddley and ran in an 8-yard score as Alabama led 23-10 at the half.
“We’re going to learn from this,” Watts said. “We played hard, proud of all the guys, they didn’t give up. So we’re definitely going to learn from this and hopefully come out on the other end.”
Watts’ 9-yard touchdown run midway through the final quarter looked like it would put away the Gamecocks.
But like several times since Holtz arrived as coach in 1998, South Carolina did what no one thought it could. Especially in this one. “This shows that there’s something special about this team,” South Carolina defensive back Jonathan Martin said. “We’re together and we’ve come a long way since the days of 0-11.” South Carolina won at Georgia and Mississippi State by not making mistakes. But the Gamecocks came apart early here.
Corey Alexander fumbled a kickoff return on his 22, Andrew Pinnock fumbled on his 26 and Derek Watson had three dropped balls in the first half.
South Carolina had only 18 yards rushing in the first half and held the ball for less than 8 minutes. The Gamecocks, who came in giving up 308.7 yards a game, gave up 308 yards the first 30 minutes.
No team had scored this many points on South Carolina the past two years.
Still, first-year Tide coach Dennis Franchione left with the image of a yellow goal post coming down. “That just tells you we’re Alabama,” Franchione said. “It tells you we’ve got to be ready to play, it doesn’t matter who, when or where.”
The win came as South Carolina fans filled the stadium for the first time since Sept. 1 and the first time since terrorist attacks on the United States. Country music star Larry Gatlin sang “God Bless America” during a halftime tribute to firefighters, law officers and emergency response workers.
The salute also included a recreation of the photograph of three firefighters raising an American flag from the World Trade Center photograph.
